The Community Awards celebrate the local charities, organisations, groups, individuals and businesses who work tirelessly to raise money and embark on community projects for the benefit of others, across the Bailiwick and further afield.

Nominations

The 2018 Community Awards took place at St James on Tuesday 13th of November. Our judges were incredibly impressed with the standard of this year's nominees and had a difficult time selecting three nominees for shortlist in each category, and then one winner per category.

The Foundation would like to thank all judges, sponsors, speakers and anyone who made an nomination for the 2018 Community Awards. Winners, comprising a mix of individuals, businesses and charities, this year came from fields as diverse as the environment, mental health, poverty alleviation, education and healthcare. A well-deserved congratulations goes to all winners and shortlisted nominees, whose tireless contributions across many areas of work continue to make Guernsey a better place.

The Community Awards will return next year, with further information available in summer 2019.

Event

The 2018 Community Awards took place on Tuesday 13th November, 4.30pm at St James.

The Community Awards will return next year. Information about the event and how to nomimate will be made available in summer 2019.

Overview

Whether it is a fundraising project run by a local charity, a group of individuals or a team from a local business, or simply individual members of the public who feel motivated to do something for charity, Guernsey has an exceptional ability to raise money and contribute many man hours to the voluntary and community sector.

The Community Awards complement the Foundation’s primary objective of promoting effective philanthropy within the Bailiwick. They are an excellent way of highlighting and applauding the many success stories of the voluntary sector. The awards are intentionally informal yet educational, interesting and illuminating and have proven to be a great inspiration to the many guests in the room.

Paul Mundy, Managing Director of State Street Guernsey, principle sponsor of the event, said: ‘So often the endeavours of many and the energy it entails, go on beneath the radar and those involved are rarely recognised by the community at large for what they do and what they achieve. State Street is delighted to be working with the Guernsey Community Foundation to host the Community Awards which embraces the full breadth of charitable and philanthropic work in Guernsey. The people of Guernsey deserve to be thanked for the wonderful, selfless and tireless work that they do to benefit and improve the lives of others.

The Community Awards 2018

Watch the highlights of the 2018 Awards

Deputy St Pier, President Policy & Resources, lauds the work of the Community Foundation and commits to an increase in third sector funding.

Thank you

The Foundation thanks the Awards sponsors as without them, this event would not be possible. So thank you State Street, Specsavers, Cazenove Capital, RG Falla, PwC Channel Islands, RBC Wealth Management and Guernsey Electricity. We also thank the Guernsey Press and ITV Channel Television for their support.

Charity of the Year

Sponsored by Sponsored by State Street

Winner

Guernsey Mind

Guernsey Mind’s vision is of a society that has a positive attitude towards mental wellbeing and where the community embraces respect for all. It works towards this by promoting positive mental health for all Islanders and raising awareness of mental health issues. Their services focus on preventing poor mental health, encouraging knowledge and choice about how to manage mental wellbeing and promoting healthy attitudes towards seeking help. They expect mental health and physical health to be treated equally.

Guernsey Mind provides a range of services for mental health in the workplace - aiming to ensure that every employer in the Bailiwick understands and effectively manages mental wellbeing. In the last year the Employee Wellbeing Service has trained 944 members of staff and 32 different companies in mental health awareness and managing mental health in the workplace - far beyond their expectations, training double the amount they had aimed for. They have also trained 150 people to be Mental Health First Aiders.

Guernsey Mind’s Community Services include the 80 strong Hope Singers Choir, 10 weekly Walk and Talkers, 13 self-help groups supporting 175 people per week at the Lions Mind Community Centre and 100 people supported individually in 2017/18. Their campaigns raise awareness by engaging local champions to discuss important issues and highlight local services. Their current campaigns include Team Talk, Stop Male Suicide (SMS), Express Yourself and 1,000 Minds. The SMS champions video has had over 22,000 views online and 220 people signed up as 1,000 Minds champions in 2018. They also partnered with Mind Jersey and Deloitte in a pan-Island Time to Talk attitude survey and launched Mind in Alderney offering training and individual support through monthly visits. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan for Guernsey and Alderney 2017-2020, which they were commissioned to write by the States of Guernsey, was published in 2017.

Guernsey Mind is working in partnership with the States of Guernsey to ensure that the cross community Plan is delivered effectively. Guernsey Mind is increasingly reaching one of its key objectives to become a hub for mental health and wellbeing in the Bailiwick.

Charity of the Year

Sponsored by Sponsored by State Street

Shortlisted

Outstanding Individual Achievement Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by PwC

Winner

Jon Honour

Jon has been the Chair of the Guernsey Welfare Service (‘GWS’) since 2011 and, by channelling his passion for supporting the needs of those on low incomes he has helped to substantially expand the services delivered to those in need by GWS. In doing so he has significantly raised its profile thereby increasing awareness of its initiatives and making them more accessible to a wider range of people.

In 2012, Jon initiated and oversaw a strategic relocation of the charity’s premises from St Martin’s Community Centre to Holy Trinity Church in St Peter Port. This move has brought many benefits to the charity’s service users as the new location is more centrally located and closer to other services.
In 2013, Jon oversaw the creation of one of Guernsey’s food banks. Having knowledge of a UK food bank model, Jon saw that there was a need for something similar on the island. This was especially true as single people under 65 were not always able to be assisted by GWS’ model at that time as its main focus was on food vouchers and single-parent families.

The food bank has allowed GWS help a greater number and broader base of people. It has facilitated the collection of a greater number of donations from all sections of the public via established collection points. GWS is now giving away around £25,000 worth of food annually. The food bank has also enabled GWS to work in partnership with other organisations more efficiently with other agencies and charities being given access to the food bank for their clients when necessary.
Jon has led on the implementation of the Linking Lives Visiting Scheme – a befriending project for isolated older people - the Parent Empowerment Project and is working towards the implementation of Nightstop, due to launch soon. Nightstop will provide emergency overnight accommodation with host families, for up to three nights, for young people who have nowhere else to go.

Outstanding Individual Achievement Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by PwC

Shortlisted

Corporate Social Responsibility Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by RBC Wealth Management

Winner

Investec Guernsey

Investec - Guernsey Office’s corporate sustainability efforts focus on addressing social and environmental issues. They seek to create a long-term, positive impact on the local community and so partner with organisations for three years or more, supporting them through volunteering and financial donations. They have worked extensively with two ‘social priority schools’, Amherst Primary School and La Mare de Carteret Primary School (‘La Mare’). In recent years La Mare, where over 25% of pupils receive a school uniform allowance, have been the focus of Investec’s efforts.

During the two and half years of partnership, Investec has donated over £10,000 which covers costs for extra teaching materials and to support valuable off island educational trips. Investec employees have volunteered almost 1000 hours (over 160 school days) during work hours, which equates to over £45,000 worth of time, which is tracked and the impact of the partnership evaluated by a part time employee with responsibility for the CSR programme.

Their specific objective at La Mare is to provide a hands-on contribution, helping to educate, develop pupils at the school and to help them fulfil the school motto to ‘enjoy, learn and succeed’. There is one Investec team member at La Mare for at least one hour every day of the school year.

Initiatives currently supported are the Breakfast Club, Coding Club, Outdoor Learning and Gardening Club and Maths Passport Testing: raising standards of attainment in numeracy is one of the main drivers in the school’s plan for improvement. During the two and a half years of Investec’s current partnership with La Mare the attainment of the children has improved significantly. The numbers of children achieving Level 2b+ has increased from 67% in 2016 to 77% in 2018 and the numbers of higher attaining children has also increased from 18% to 23%. In KS2 attainment at Level 4b+ has risen from 63% to 70%. Investec’s efforts have also enabled students to go on a school trip to France. Both staff and children have spoken very highly of Investec’s work at La Mare.

Corporate Social Responsibility Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by RBC Wealth Management

Shortlisted

Fundraising Team of the Year Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by Cazenove Capital

Winner

Ernie's Angels

This new charity aims to support children and young people who have been given a terminal diagnosis, and their families. The focus of the charity is specifically on covering expenses for palliative and respite care and also assistance with funeral expenses caused by illness or accident of a child in the Bailiwick, thereby providing financial relief and sympathy to families at an incredibly difficult time. Ernie’s Angels differs from other children’s cancer charities in that they focus specifically on the time after a terminal diagnosis has been given. The charity was set up in memory of Ernie, the founder’s inspirational son, who sadly passed away from leukaemia last year. A unique fundraising campaign launched the charity, when Ernie’s (im)mature cheese went on sale just before Christmas 2017 with all profits going to the charity. Regular trips to the Guernsey Dairy, thanks to Ernie’s love of cheese, forged a lifelong bond between Ernie and the Guernsey Dairy’s Production team. Approximately 3,000 packs of Ernie’s cheese were produced and sold in a number of retail outlets, at short notice, across the Island.

The fundraising campaign was embraced by the local community and the whole batch sold out by the end of February. The Dairy donated 100% of its operating margin to Ernie’s Angels and staff willingly volunteered to give up their free time to pack and label the cheese in order to maximise the return with a total of over £2,500 being raised. The charity has already helped two families who have needed unexpected support and financial assistance at a most devastating time. The charity is continuing its fundraising efforts and plans an annual event in June around the date of Ernie’s birthday. Ernie’s legacy will now live on with the families the charity assists

Fundraising Team of the Year Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by Cazenove Capital

Shortlisted

Organising Committee of the Year Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by RG Falla

Winner

Floral Forest

Floral Forest was formed 21 years ago to help enhance the parish for locals and visitors alike. The team has represented the Bailiwick in this year’s national finals of the Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom campaign, having won the gold award in last year’s Floral Guernsey Community Competition. Entries for the national finals are judged on horticultural excellence, environmental responsibility and community engagement. Around 1,500 communities take part each year with about 70 going forward to the national finals in 11 different categories. Under the leadership of Sarah Plumley, who has developed ongoing projects as well as initiating several new ones, a great sense of team work has been fostered resulting in some 3,500 voluntary hours during the year.

Team work is especially evident with the Forest Wombles – a group of 16 dedicated ladies who are responsible for deadheading the many parish displays. Floral Forest has made every effort to engage with the community, especially with schools such as Forest Primary School and Le Rondin School & Centre and youth groups such as 17th Guernsey Forest Brownies and Forest Methodist Church Sunday School. As part of this work they have run competitions to promote wildlife and conservation.

The team have completed a number of horticultural projects including community gardening projects, encouraging recycling, greening communal and commercial spaces, and encouraging conservation and biodiversity. They also ran private open gardens, a ‘Music on the Cliffs’ event and other competitions in order to fundraise for the expenses of the floral projects with other charities also benefiting. On 19th October at the national Britain in Bloom event, it was confirmed that the team had won gold in the Large Village category, a fitting tribute to their dedication and fabulous displays.

Organising Committee of the Year Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by RG Falla

Shortlisted

Innovation Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by Specsavers

Winner

The Pollinator Project

The Pollinator Project is an initiative that was created last year by a small group of members within La Société Guernesiaise. They aim to engage our community with Guernsey’s rich natural environment and encourage individuals to make changes to the way gardens and domestic land are managed locally. The initiative is in response to long term research studies which indicate that insects, the cornerstones of ecosystems, are in severe trouble. Intensive farming, climate change, urban growth and the over use of pesticides have all been devastating to these insects, including pollinators. Two-thirds of butterflies and moths are in long term decline. Across Europe 38% of bees and hoverflies are also in decline. And yet, one out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on pollination taking place.

As wild areas dwindle, urban and domestic areas become ever more important to wildlife and often support a diverse range of habitats that are becoming increasingly crucial for many species of pollinators. With over 1700 of the island's 6300 hectares of land designated as ‘gardens’, The Pollinator Project has identified gardens as a vital untapped source for biodiversity. The project is encouraging garden owners to “set aside” just 10% of their properties for pollinating insects, which would add over 150 hectares to the 'natural' habitat of our island – the equivalent of over 200 football pitches. A key part of the project’s work has been education with the team encouraging Islanders to feel responsible for, and to do something to halt the decline of wildlife species. Encouraging land management changes on a household level and across our community has been a bold departure from the usual way La Societe Guernesiaise has operated to date.

Working in partnership is core to the project, which in one year has already developed working partnerships with more than 40 groups and organisations on a project basis and engaged with over 3,000 individuals of all ages within schools, businesses, sports facilities and community groups. Initiatives have involved raising awareness of the species of pollinators we have in Guernsey; establishing pollinator patches; growing pollinator friendly plants locally; creating nesting habitats; discouraging the use of pesticides; and gathering data on local species. The project team is also working with the Development and Planning Authority to ensure that ‘green’ garden space is routinely included in planning applications.

Innovation Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by Specsavers

Shortlisted

Youth Award

Sponsored by Sponsored by Guernsey Electricity

Winner

Charlotte Horsepool

Charlotte has been involved with The Leo Club of Guernsey for several years and since joining has immersed herself in the charity’s activities, first becoming Vice-President and then taking on the role of President which she held for 2 years. During her presidency she has been involved with many initiatives including Meals on Wheels where she has formed lasting friendships with the elderly people who benefit from the weekly deliveries.

She has taken the lead in organising many Leo Club of Guernsey fundraising events, including bingo nights and flag days. As well as these core activities she has organised several major projects including The Pride of Guernsey talent show, the “Bake a Difference” overnight baking competition and Project Sparkle. Project Sparkle is the Leo Club of Guernsey’s ambitious plan, co-organised by Charlotte, to put the sparkle back into Christmas for Islanders who spend some or all of the holiday period alone. Inspired by the Christmas shoebox campaign, Charlotte co-organised a very successful donation drive for gifts for the elderly and organised their distribution.

Under Charlotte’s direction, the membership of the Leo Club of Guernsey has grown and, although she has now stepped down as President, she continues to take the lead on many of the charity’s events and initiatives to bring support to Islanders who need it. During her time at the Leo Club of Guernsey she has organised events that benefit a wide range of local causes including the GSPCA and Headway Guernsey.